An arena of fierce or ruthless rivalry; a rat race.
Origin
1950s; earliest use found in ELH. From French panier de crabes, lit. ‘basket of crabs’ from French panier basket (see pannier + de + crabes, plural of crab.
Definition of panier de crabes in US English:
panier de crabes
nounˌpanjeɪ də ˈkrab
literary
An arena of fierce or ruthless rivalry; a rat race.
Origin
1950s; earliest use found in ELH. From French panier de crabes, lit. ‘basket of crabs’ from French panier basket (see pannier + de + crabes, plural of crab.